Aramex posts 12% jump in first-quarter profit

Aramex on Sunday reported a 12 per cent year-on-year increase in its first quarter net profit for 2016 on growth across all its geographies.
The logistics and transport solution provider said it earned a net profit of nearly Dh97 million compared to Dh86.6 million in the first quarter of 2015. Its revenues in the first quarter also increased to Dh1.05 billion, showing an increase of 13 per cent compared to Dh930 million in Q1 2015.
The company said Aramex's strong performance was driven by growth across all its geographies. International Express recorded a strong performance in Q1, driven primarily by robust e-commerce growth across all markets. The Domestic Express business saw an increase in revenues in key markets, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, where Aramex revenue growth for the quarter was positively impacted by the acquisition of Fastway Couriers.
Aramex chief executive officer Hussein Hachem said: "Despite global economic uncertainty, continuing oil price volatility and currency fluctuations, our performance in Q1 was very strong. Net profit growth could have been even stronger, up by 18 per cent, had we not accounted for a one time acquisition cost of Fastway Couriers during the quarter."
Hachem added: "Revenue growth, primarily in international and domestic express, was driven by the continued expansion of our cross-border e-commerce business across key growth markets and contributed significantly to our good performance this quarter. Though we finished Q1 strongly, we experienced slower growth at the end of the quarter. We are closely watching this trend so we can quickly adjust to any volatility, and we're cautiously optimistic about continuing our growth momentum further into 2016."
A "Rapid Scaling-Up" Model will soon be unveiled to leverage more partnerships with delivery businesses worldwide, extend global reach and improve delivery transit times. The use of these innovative technologies is helping Aramex to quickly adjust to challenging market conditions, increase capacity and tap into unlimited resources across markets.
In line with these developments, a continued focus for the rest of 2016 will be to further enhance the e-commerce platform due to the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce. Aramex will also continue to actively look for future acquisitions in key markets, particularly in Asia where it sees significant opportunities for business growth, as well as in Africa where it is witnessing a steady growth particularly in Sub-Sahara Africa. - abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com